Manual traction device



Oct. 1, 1963 E. L. ZlVl MANUAL TRACTION DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMay 24, 1962 Oct. 1, 1963 E. L. 21V! 3, 5,

MANUAL TRACTION DEVICE Filed May 24, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT ORUnited States Patent 3,105,489 MANUAL TRACTIGN DEVICE Edwin L. Zivi, R0.Box 237, Severna Park, Md. Filed May 24, 1%2, Ser. No. 197,377 Claims.(Cl. 128-45) This invention relates to orthopedic apparatus moreparticularly to a traction device suitable for neck and spine traction.

The conventional orthopedic apparatus for neck traction consists of ahead harness suspended by a rope over a pulley. One end of the rope isconnected to the head harness usually, though not necessarily, throughspring scales to calibrated counterbalance weights.

The diificulty of setting up such apparatus for neck traction is wellknown. It requires an attend-ant and the full cooperation of the patientto put the neck or spine of the patient in traction. For neck traction,or upper spine traction, the head of the patient must be placed in aharness and in the usual design, a spreader bar must be installed overthe head of the patient to which each end of the head harness isattached. It is usual to request a patient to hold either the spreaderbar or rope while the attendant assembles the prescribed calibratedweights of from 5 to 20 pounds or more on the end of a rope over thepulley system. Great care must be taken to ease the load onto the ropeto ensure gradual application of the load to the neck or spine of thepatient.

With the present invention the apparatus is in such form that it can beassembled and maintained ready for use. The patients head is placed inthe head harness and the length of rope, from the head harness assemblyto the support, adjusted. The load can then be applied by the patient insmall increments until the prescribed load is reached. If the load isuncomfortable, it can be easily relieved by the patient. It may beincreased by the patient as desired. It can be applied continuously orintermittently under the control of the patient throughout thetreatment.

It is an object, therefore, to provide a traction device which can bestored, completely assembled and easily put into operation without theassembly of many parts.

It is another object of the invention to provide a traction devicewhereby traction may be applied as a steady or intermittent load.

It is an object of the invention to provide a traction device wherebypractically any force can be applied such as normally used in orthopedicwork without the use of heavy weights.

It is an object of this invention to provide a traction device that canbe installed and operated by the patient without the need for constantattendance or assistance.

Further and other objects will become apparent from the description ofthe accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a traction device installed on a patient for necktraction.

FIGURE 2 shows a predetermined tension release spreader bar.

FIGURES 3 and 4 are elevation and plan views of the assembled apparatus.

FIGURES 5 and 6 are end and side views of a typical clutch mechanism.

FIGURES 7 and 8 are plan and side views of the loading arm.

Apparatus in accordance with this invention is shown in use in FIGURE 1.This figure shows the apparatus secured near or at the top edge of adoor A, consisting of amounting bracket 1 (shown in FIGURE 3) support-"ice ing a frame member 2 extending outwardly from the door A. A shaftmeans 3 extends through the two sides of frame member 2 for mountingparts of the traction apparatus for movement with respect to said framemember. A clutch mechanism 4 is mounted on one side of the frame memberand secured by means of screws, bolts or rivets through flanged housing5. A portion of clutch mechanism 4 extending between the sides of theframe member has an enlarged collar portion 6 mounted on shaft means '3.The other portion of shaft means 3' extends through the other side offrame member 2 for support. A traction arm 7 is mounted between thesides of frame member 2 having a collar 8 formed on one end which issecured to the enlarged portion 6. Collar 8 can be secured in any one ofseveral ways such as by a key or set screw 17. The other end of thetraction arm 7 has a hole 9 formed therein to support one end oftraction cable 10 which may be, for example, nylon braided rope. Theouter end of shaft 3 through the two way clutch member 4 has a loadingarm 12 removably secured thereon such as by a clamp ring 13 extendingaround shaft 3 to which loading arm 12 is secured. Clamp ring 13 mayhave a thumb screw 14 for removability or it may be permanently securedin place by any type of fastening means. A key 15 is provided betweenclamp ring 13 and shaft 3 to prevent slippage and index the handle withrespect to the shaft. A loading handle 16 is pivoted at 11 :at the outerend of loading arm 12.

An indicating scale 18 is suspended from cable 10. The harness 22 issupported by the spreader bar 24 An adjustable cable fastening means 21is shown intermediate the spreader bar 20 and cable Ill. Clamp 21 can beany one of several well-known devices such as a nonreversible clamp forrope or cable.

The apparatus may be permanently secured to a wall through mountingholes in the flange of frame member 2 or it can be secured over the topof a door in any suitable way such as by a metal bracket 1 and clampscrew 1'.

Loading handle 16 is assisted to the up position by spring 19 thusmoving the loading arm 12 into the up position and the traction arm 7 tothe down position as shown in FIGURE 3. The patient is then seated in achair and the harness 22 is put in place in the conventional mannerunder the chin and back of the head of the patient, cable clamp 21having previously been released to lower the spreader bar. After theinstallation of head harness 22 over the head of the patient, cable 10is pulled through clamp 21 to raise the assembly. The patient is usuallyseated in front of a mirror so that the scale 18 can be read. It is notnecessary to actually read the numerals on the scale but a marker may beplaced beside the prescribed load on the fixed part of the scale and apatient merely has to bring the needle of the scale into coincidencewith the marker for the prescribed load. When the apparatus has beeninstalled on the patients head, the patient then pulls the loadinghandle 16 until the assembly is firm. The patient can then continue topull the loading handle 16 into any position of load as indicated by thescale. This is accomplished by the loading handle 16 moving the loadingarm 12 which rotates the shaft 3 and traction arm 7, thus movingtraction cable 10. If the patient releases loading handle 16, the loadwill be maintained as set by reason of the two Way clutch 4. Clutch 4will hold shaft 3 in any position at which the loading arm 12 is leftwhen the loading handle 16 is free. It is not necessary to continuouslyhold the loading handle 16 to maintain the position of the loading arm12.

Since clutch 4 maintains shaft 3 in any position left by the loading arm12 the traction arm 7 will be left in the same position therebymaintaining the prescribed tension in cable 10. If the patient shouldchange his position and it is noted that the scales 18 indicate lessthan the prescribed traction, it is merely necessary to pull the loadinghandle 16 down, thus moving the loading arm 7 a few degrees of rotationabout shaft 3 to effect the desired load.

If the load should become uncomfortable on the neck of the patient or ifit is desired to apply the load and then relieve the load inintermittent traction, the patient can move the loading handle 16upwardly and by virtue of the two way clutch 4, shaft 3 will be rotatedin the opposite direction and the load relieved as much as it isdesired. 7

The two way clutch 4 is any device that can be built to have a portion 6driven by the shaft 3 in either of two directions but which will stay inthe position in which it is left by shaft 3, until the shaft 3 is againrotated. Such a device is shown in Patent No. 1,657,561 which is inefiect a friction clutch. The device is in effect a two way clutch, thatis, it may be rotated manually in either direction of rotation and itwill lock in the last position in which it is left by the shaft and byreversing the direction of the shaft, overrides the locking effect androtates the portion driven by the shaft in the opposite direction or toa new position in the same or opposite direction where it will againlock.

As a precaution, it may be desirable to employ a spreader bar 30 asshown in FIGURE 2 in which the spreader bar 39 is formed with a hook 31on one end to engage one end of head harness 22 and the other end ofhead harness 22 is secured in a downwardly directed slot 32 by latch 33which is in the form of a bellcrank pivoted at 34. A stop 35 restrainsthe latch in one direction and a spring 36, the tension of which can bevaried by bolt 37 through bracket 38, secured to spreader bar 38, andnut 39. A hole 49 in the middle of spreader bar 30 affords a support forthe suspension of the spreader bar and head harness assembly.

The tension in spring 36 can readily be adjusted so that if apredetermined load is exceeded by the tension in the assembly attachedto spreader bar 3!? at hole 49, the cam surface 33' of latch 33 willrelease one side of the head harness and thereby the whole tension forceexerted on the patient.

It should be apparent from the above that the load at all times is underthe direct control of the patient and should there be any discomfort inthe application of traction, it can be immediately relieved andreadjusted to a more comfortable level of load.

Instances where it is diflicult to read the calibration on the springscale, a marker and pointer may be used or one fixed and movableelectrical contacts may be installed on the scales to give a lightsignal when the prescribed point has been reached on the scaleindicating the proper traction. I

The foregoing description relates to vertical traction as is usual forneck or spine traction. It is contemplated, however, that the device mayhe used for various other applications of traction such as being mountedon a bed for horizontal applications of traction. The same advantages asdescribed above pertain, that the traction can be adjusted and left at aprescribed, predetermined value that can be relieved by the patient inthe case of discomfort.

It should be understood that certain changes, alterations, modificationsand substitutions can be made in this apparatus without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An orthopedic traction apparatus comprising a support frame and aharness assembly, means to secure said support frame remote from saidharness assembly, shaft means mounted on said support frame transverselyof the axis of the 'rection of traction on said harness assembly, clutchmeans mounted on said shaft means having a portion adapted to be movedin either direction of rotation with the rotation of said shaft means,means to lock the position of said portion in the instant position withrespect to said shaft means when rotation of said shaft,

means stops, a traction arm mounted perpendicular to said shaft means onsaid portion to move therewith, a loading arm secured to said shaftmeans to rotate said shaft in either direction, a loading handle securedto said loading arm to move said loading arm in either direction, meansinterconnecting the outer end of said traction arm and said harness,whereby a traction load may be applied to said harness through saidloading handle and said loading arm in one direction, and the tractionload removed by motion of said loading handle in the opposite direction.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which a bracket means isprovided to secure said support frame to the top of a door.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which is providedinterconnecting means between said support frame and said harnesscomprising traction cable means having one end secured to the movableend of said traction arm, and the other end secured to a scale which is'secured to said harness assembly and means to clamp said support cablein any selected position with respect to said harness.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which predetermined releaseload means is provided between said support frame and said harness.

5. An orthopedic traction apparatus comprising a sup port frame and aharness assembly, means to secure said support frame above said headharness, a shaft means mounted on said support frame transversely of theaxis which would correspond to the axis of the neck of a patient onwhich the apparatus is used, a clutch means mounted on said shaft meanshaving a collar portion surrounding said shaft means to be moved ineither direction of rotation with the rotation :of said shaft means,means to lock the position of said collar portion in the instantposition with respect to said shaft means when rotation of said shaftmeans stops, at traction arm mounted perpendicular to said shaft meanson said collar portion to move therewith, a loading arm secured to saidshaft means to rotate said shaft means in either direction, a loadinghandle secured to said loading arm to move said loading arm in eitherdirection, means interconnecting the outer end of said traction arm andsaid harness, to apply to said harness a traction load by means of saidloading handle and said loading larm being moved in one direction andthe traction load removed by motion of said loading handle in theopposite direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS274,527 Stelle et a1 Mar. 27, 1883 1,242,598 Riddle Oct. 9, 19172,701,564 Wilhelm Feb. 8, 1955 2,714,885 Uhland Aug. 9, 1955

1. AN ORTHOPEDIC TRACTION APPARATUS COMPRISING A SUPPORT FRAME AND AHARNESS ASSEMBLY, MEANS TO SECURE SAID SUPPORT FRAME REMOTE FROM SAIDHARNESS ASSEMBLY, SHAFT MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT FRAME TRANSVERSELYOF THE AXIS OF THE DIRECTION OF TRACTION ON SAID HARNESS ASSEMBLY,CLUTCH MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT MEANS HAVING A PORTION ADAPTED TO BEMOVED ON EITHER DIRECTION OF ROTATION WITH THE ROTATION OF SAID SHAFTMEANS, MEANS TO LOCK THE POSITION OF SAID PORTION IN THE INSTANTPOSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID SHAFT MEANS WHEN ROTATION OF SAID SHAFTMEANS STOPS, A TRACTION ARM MOUNTED PERPENDICULAR TO SAID